This morning, as I was exiting the restroom at work, I felt someone on the other side of the door, pushing as I was pulling the handle. Having someone entering the restroom at the same time as I was exiting is not that uncommon. However, I was surprised to see that the person entering the restroom was a woman.

Now, I knew that one of us must be in error and since I had just finished using the restroom, I was quite sure that it wasn’t me. Of course, the woman was quite surprised that someone was exiting at the same time as she was leaving and even more surprised to see that it was a man. And in an instant, she froze.

At this point in time, we have a problem. I am trying to leave the restroom but she is blocking the doorway. And what’s more, she isn’t moving.

While I am fairly sure that she doesn’t really want to come in, I give her the benefit of the doubt. Holding the door open with one hand, I gesture a welcome with the other hand. This action was enough to over come the shock and break the standoff. She politely smiled and without so much as a word, turned and exited.

This is a situation where timing is everything. Had she arrived at the door 5 seconds earlier, she probably would have entered the men’s restroom resulting in a close encounter of the strange kind.